To Build Up or Build Out?

Every day at The Overhead Wire we sort through over 1,500 news items about cities and share the best ones with our email list. At the end of the week, we take some of the most popular stories and share them with Urban Milwaukee readers. They are national (or international) links, sometimes entertaining and sometimes absurd, but hopefully useful.

The best laid but ignored plans: Dallas put together a forward thinking and thoughtful highway guide for the areas around urban Dallas. The most recent highway planning draft for I-30 from TXDOT completely ignored it adding more frontage roads and widening the freeway in turn blocking opportunities for good urban development. (D Magazine)

Don’t forget the basics of transportation: A lot of conferences and articles are going all out discussing the future of transportation but for the most part it’s always about cars and technologies that are individual focused and not necessarily about moving large groups of people. But we shouldn’t forget the basics like public transit. (The Verge)

Which side are you on? Build up or build out: Housing is an important topic in cities as prices go up and pressures mount for lower income residents. But what might be the best way to address the issue? Noah Smith and Connor Sen of Bloomberg News debate whether density is the answer or sprawl is a greater pressure relief valve. (Bloomberg News)

The heartbeat of a city: Manhattan’s daytime population swells by two million people as commuters flock to downtown and midtown offices in droves. Interactive data designer Justin Fung captures this inhale/exhale of the city in a stunning visualization. (Fast Company)

Vacant land in America’s CBDs: A new study looks at the total amount of vacant land that exists in America’s central business districts. They found that in the 25 largest cities 584 acres were available and underdeveloped. The hope is that these properties develop in the future to support regional economies. (Commercial Cafe)

Quote of the Week

Think about that for a moment: At least 1 out of 10 self-driving cars will often contain someone who is experiencing motion sickness. That’s going to mean an awful lot of cleaning up.

–Meredith Broussard writing in Slate about how ride hailing companies are going to keep autonomous vehicles clean.

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